Let me preface this long storytime post by saying that I don't play Show Director often. I get the appeal and what makes him fun to play - it creates personalized games, personal experiences, can create tension and connect people in the best way possible. With that said, I don't play him often since not many people actually talk or partake in the play. A role designed for social play doesn't get "social" often. However one situation completely changed my view on what Show Director actually means and his new, underappreciated, but incredibly important purpose. Let's start from the beginning.

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I join the game. It's Duos. I start my typical beginning speech, typical gl hf and setting the mood of who I am and how I'm gonna direct. I scroll through people looking for something interesting and attempt to partake in small talk. At one point I see two new players standing, probably away from keyboard. Scrolling more and one of those guys disconnected, probably crash. I check up on the other guy and he started looting his teammate's body. I said something along the lines of "Sorry your buddy disconnected, no worries! I can still aid you, you can do it". I didn't expect a response, why should I? A new player, probably silent, didn't get the microphone, it's EU, so probably not gonna talk English, not worth my time, I'm moving on. But then, something interesting happened. The guy talked back.

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He was pretty eager to play and started asking questions about the game. I immediately took notice and started talking too. He asked typical questions about what the game is, what to do and such. He claimed that he just started playing and invited his friend over to check the game out. I made a warm greeting for him and we were having some idle banter. The most charming bit was when he asked me where I was and who I am. The guy guessed that I was a moderator of the game and I said, that I'm a guy just like you and my sole purpose is to make games more exciting and tense, the eleventh player. I also said that I'm not asshole and I'm not throwing powers just to make people mad. I activated Beach Party, I got from his POV and flew in front of hit face, basically showing him I'm a drone that oversees the entire thing, we both laughed. The guy mostly stood still and was walking around while talking, so he didn't really loot, but that was ok. The guy asked about how crafting works, how looting works, how to gain an edge in battle and other stuff you'd expect. In the fourth minute mark, the guy got utterly demolished by actual competent players, one versus two, but even after that, I wished him good luck on his next game. I could hear genuine happiness and eagerness in his voice and that literally made my day. The guys who killed him were also understanding of the situation and had no issues with that.

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First impressions of the game are what makes new players stay. Just like in film and books, a good beginning will hook in a person and from that point on they can became one of the pillars of said work. I know people complained about the game being dead and all, but the thruth is, there are lots of new player lobbies happening behind the curtain. We don't really notice it, since we play Inmate and the matchmaking doesn't join us with newbies (it tries to at least). If you want to make the game a bit less dead, I emplore you, play SD and bring your hope and willingness to help new people with you. Today's newbies are tomorrow's community members and as such, those players will shape the future. We all were newbies earlier and we all were in a honeymoon phase where everything was exciting, these moments are the most beautiful and blissful. Unique concept, great execution, great potential, getting your first win/kill can be enough to stay. Let's add in meeting an amazing, friendly player to the mix. Let them cite you as the reason they stuck around playing. Even if you play Inmate and you kill a new player, say good game, give him the motivation to continue playing or you can just be friendly during the battle.

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Players don't forget the good deeds.